


5 Times Jeremy Pushed Up His Glasses And 1 Time Jean Did It For Him

by LI0NH34RT



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Jeremy with glasses, M/M, Mutual Pining, jerejean, the Knox family - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 21:10:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17311913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/pseuds/LI0NH34RT
Summary: What the title says. Not more and not less.





	5 Times Jeremy Pushed Up His Glasses And 1 Time Jean Did It For Him

**Author's Note:**

  * For [were](https://archiveofourown.org/users/were/gifts).



> For Oliver, because he drew a very cute Jere with glasses. 💙

 

I.

  
Jean stares. He knows he stares and he can’t stop.    
Luckily Jeremy is not the most alert person, outside an Exy court. They are both trying to do their homework, well, Jeremy is actually typing away on his laptop, every inch the responsible student he looks.  

  
The captain is sitting on his bed, cross-legged, he is wearing pyjamas and his reading glasses. Too long hair strands falling in his face.    
And Jean really, _really_ tries to concentrate and get his extra reading done. But how can he concentrate on the History of Art in Ancient Greece, when the biggest work of art is sitting right in front of him?  
   
From his position on his own bed, right across the room, Jean has the perfect view on his roommate absentmindedly pushing up his glasses with one finger and then tucking that one stray strand of hair back behind his ear only for it to immediately fall back in front of his face.  
“ _Ridicule..._ ”  
Jeremy looks up. “What?”    
“Oh, nothing.”  
They fall back into silence and Jeremy sends him a small, slightly confused smile before starting to type again.

 

  
   
II.

  
It’s the morning after a big game (they won, so there is that) and Jeremy is tired. Jean is tired too. They all are. Alvarez and Laila, who sit across from them already have given up on getting anything done today and lean on each other in a desperate try to stay awake.  
Jean, who finished all of his homework one hour ago (apparently having no hangover really helps with your productivity, who knew?) has turned to his favourite pass time these days, watching his captain.

  
Jeremy is handsome, yeah, even years before when all on his mind had been _Riko, Exy_ and _Survival_ , when they had met for the first time, the boy's smile had ghosted through Jean's mind weeks after the game against the Trojans. Brightening Evermore’s dark walls just a little bit.

  
So it wasn’t that he was good looking, all golden hair, tan skin and easy smiles, Jean never had been attracted to a pretty face alone, but the way his light blue eyes shine with affection when he laughs, how his dimples are more prominent when he genuinely smiles at Jean, his hair, first thing in the morning (Jeremy may have a lot of energy but he wasn't a morning person. At all.) and, of course, his glasses. Jeremy only really needs them when he reads and that’s probably a good thing because the way he pushes them up, wrinkling his nose just a tiny bit wakes up feelings in Jean he never thought himself capable of feeling.

  
“Alright!” Laila’s voice brings him back to reality, “This isn’t working. I say we call it a day, we won’t fail every class if we continue tomorrow!” with that she closes her books.  
Jeremy rubs his eyes, pushed up glasses falling from his face in the process, Jean has to catch them before they can land on the floor, and yawns out a ‘thank you' when he takes them back.

  
Jean is even more quiet than usual on their way back to the dorms.  

 

  
   
III.

  
The next time it happens Jean is aware of his behaviour, but since everyone else is either drunk or working on getting drunk he doesn’t see a reason to stop watching Jeremy being completely adorable.

  
It's almost ridiculous how very _not Riko_ Jeremy is. Soon after arriving at the USC Jean had realized that the always friendly, happy Captain of the Trojans really was that happy and almost naive in reality. It  hadn’t been easy for him to break long trained and internalized habits but with the help of a (contractually obligated) therapist and his new teammates Jean finally is at a point now where he can sit on a couch and openly smile at Laila trying to climb into her girlfriend's lap without Alvarez putting her drink down and at Jeremy in an in depth conversation with his co-strikers, probably about the upcoming game.

  
The captain was laughing and then, in an utterly casual movement of his right hand, he pushes up the round glasses on his nose. His eyes catch Jean’s stare and he mouths a quick _Everything alright?_ Towards him. Always so considerate... but he nods anyway, willing the strange flutter in his stomach down.   
This is not the time for feelings. Not for anyone and certainly not for Jeremy who deserves so much better than a Raven with broken wings.

  
He goes to bed early that night, pretending to be asleep when Jeremy comes into the room.

 

  
   
IV.

  
Since that party Jeremy looks at him more often, Jean notices. Quick little check ups during training, long glances that did nothing to conceal Jeremy's wish to talk when they are in their room together, barely hidden looks everywhere else. But he never said something. It was probably better that way, since neither of them knew what to say and so they dance around each other, trying to maintain normalcy.  
   
But since fate never really liked Jean, their little game comes to an end at the press conference after the Trojans managed to beat Penn State and are officially on their way to championships now. Coach Rhemann decides that this is a job for the captain and Jean made the mistake of standing too close when the man looks for a second victim.  

  
So here they are, along with the other victorious team's representatives, sitting in a long row like sacrifice sheep in front of the shark tank of reporters (Jean, dramatic? Never?). At first everything is okay, normal. Save questions about the past games and what they expect from the spring championship.    
Then the questions take a turn towards transfers and Jean can feel his body go rigid as soon as the first reporter addresses him.

  
“Mr. Moreau, you are the most recent transfer, and an unexpected one as well, do you wanna tell us what brought on you leaving the best team in Class I Exy?”  
_Non. Non!_   Every nerve inside Jean screamed, opening and closing his mouth without any sounds coming out, as suddenly a warm steady hand comes to lay on his knee.  
Jeremy doesn’t look at him, but his presence is noticeable at Jean’s side.

  
“Its quite a long story, but let me phrase it this way: I realized that I wasn’t actually playing for the best team. But I am now.”

  
A storm of questions breaks loose, but Jeremy’s hand holds him grounded.  
The Captain smiles as he leans forward to his mic. “That would be all on this, thank you ladies and gentlemen.” He sits back again, pushing up his glasses while ignoring the unsatisfied comments flooding the room.  
   
And that was when Jean realizes that he is fucked. The butterflies in his stomach flutter happily.

  
   
V.  

  
The only sound audible is the motor of their bus. The game has been exhausting and their close defeat left not even Laila or MacArthur with enough energy to throw a pity party.  
It isn’t the end of the season and they could still secure their place at championships, but a loss was a loss and so the way home is bound to be a quiet one.  
   
It was Jean’s first defeat with the Trojans and even though he knows that he is safe now, that nobody will beat the flawed game out of him, he still feels rattled and exhausted from his own wariness and so he spends the first hour curled up in a seat in the back, trying to be invisible until the last of his team members has fallen asleep.

  
When he lifts his head however, a small light from the row on the other side of the aisle comes into view. Its Jeremy, bowed over a tablet, headphones in his ears as he rewatches their match from earlier.  
As if the Captain feels Jean’s gaze he looks up, a apologetic smile already forming while he pulls out one earbud. “Sorry, did I wake you up?”  
Jean shakes his head and he doesn’t say a word as he unfurls himself to stand and slide into the seat next to Jeremy. He grabs the dangling earbud and puts it into his own ear. “Let me see what we have to work with.”  
And Jeremy smiles, at Jean, at his use of ‘we’ and he pulls out a small notebook, clicks the pen and pushes up his glasses. “Let’s do this.”

  
When Laila wakes up the next morning, shortly before they arrive at USC campus, and stumbles to the back to look after Jeremy, she finds the two asleep, tablet in danger of falling from Jeremy's lap and Jean’s head on the captain's shoulder.  
It is pure luck that she manages to suppress her squeal long enough to take a picture and hurry back to the front to show Sara.

  
   
+I.

  
“Hey boys, do you want another hot chocolate before bed?”

  
They say time progresses faster when you don’t count the hours and in this moment, sitting on the couch in the Knox's living room he fully believed that to be true. It feels like yesterday when he arrived in California, a scared boy with broken bones and full of anger.  
He still isn’t alright, but the sunshine is warming his bones and honest smiles of the Trojans his heart.  
   
A mug, steaming and filled to the brim with marshmallows, comes into his line of vision.  
“Where was your mind this time?” Jeremy asks with a soft smile, rivalling his Christmas sweater, as he sinks down beside Jean.

  
The house is quiet around them and he realizes that they are alone, truly alone for the first time since they arrived.  
He shakes his head “I never thanked you, you know?”  
“For what?”  
Jean takes a careful dip from his chocolate before he puts the mug down.

  
“I probably never told you, but I never expected to live past my graduation. Had it all planned out. The day of the Raven’s last game, a win of course, I would have slipped away, I wonder if they ever found the collection of pills I stashed under the floor boards...”

  
Jeremy let’s out a broken sound, but he doesn’t interrupt him and so Jean continues. They talk until their mugs are empty and the fire is just a pile of glowing coals, until Jean’s throat is raw and Jeremy can’t hold his tears back anymore.  
In the end Jean feels relieved, lighter than he has in years.  
Jeremy knows everything and he hasn’t run yet. He is still there. Looking at him with bright hazel eyes, so much warmer than his own grey ones.

  
His glasses threaten to fall from his nose once more and before Jean knows what he is doing he reaches out, careful, almost hesitant pushing them up again.  
“Jean", Jeremy says, sounding breathless, “can I kiss you?”

  
Instead of an answer he just leans forward, his hands cupping Jeremy’s cheeks this time, and that seems to be enough because in the next second warm lips are covering his own and he tastes the cinnamon Jeremy had in his chocolate.  

  
Outside it starts to snow and the fire has gone out completely but Jean has never felt so warm before.

 


End file.
